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The Long View

The Long View 2008-10-11: The Crystallization of the West and the Election of 2008

John J. Reilly here alludes to, but does not name, Modern Monetary Theory, the slightly batshit but so far unrefuted idea that countries which control their own money supply can spend, borrow, and tax without constraint of tax receipts. It sounds nuts. But it also keeps working. In much the

The Long View 2008-10-05: Dégringolade

The 1983 version of Modern Times that John J. Reilly recommends here can be picked up for $3 USD used on Amazon. I have read parts of Paul Johnson’s A History of the American People, but only seen snippets of the earlier and broader work. I don’t find

The Long View 2011-06-11: Notes on Afghanistan

Casey Cho pointed out to me that John J. Reilly had written something about a previous President’s plan for withdrawing from Afghanistan ten years ago. John’s strategic assessment is interesting. He makes an argument that as of 2011 the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were successes, with important

The Long View 2008-09-27: Mortgages and the Curse of the Fendahl

The episode that John J. Reilly references here is called “The Image of the Fendahl”, which is even embedded in the now dead link he had included. I think I can see why he called it “The Curse of the Fendahl” instead, as the titular alien species parasitized the people

The Long View 2008-09-20: Parastatals

This is another spectacular essay from John J. Reilly. Here, he uses the term of art “parastatal enterprise” to describe the parts of the economy that are widely seen, by opponents and proponents alike, as market enterprises, but which are in fact extensions of the state and its policies. There

The Long View 2008-09-07: Some Notes on the American Political Major-Party Conventions of 2008

John J. Reilly gives us some solid grounding here in the foundations of cyclical theories of history, and also provides his assessment of why neither American party has been able to create a durable governing order akin to the New Deal. This essay is highly recommended. Some Notes on the

The Long View 2008-09-01: Louisiana With Snow

John J. Reilly here paints an extremely [some might say overly] sympathetic portrait of Sarah Palin. Since the McCain-Palin ticket lost, such portrayals are likely to lose out compared to parodies like the 2012 movie, Iron Sky. [Amazon link] This is a good example of how you might do the